Assessing prospective memory in older age: the relationship between self-report and performance on clinic-based and naturalistic tasks

Lei Gryffydd, Biswadev Mitra, Bradley J. Wright, Glynda J. Kinsella

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This investigation assessed the relationship between subjective self-reports and objective measures of prospective memory with forty-eight healthy, community-dwelling older-adults (> 65 years). The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire provided the self-report data, the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test was used as a clinic-based test, and the Telephone Task (telephoning the examiner at irregular, pre-scheduled times across one week) was used as a naturalistic measure. The self-reported difficulties were negatively associated with performance on the naturalistic task, r (41) = -0.341, p = <0.05, but not the clinic-based task. Performance tasks (clinic-based and naturalistic) were moderately associated, r (41) = 0.312, p = <0.05. Tests of retrospective memory (delayed recall) and executive function (attention set-shifting) did not individually predict performance on any of the prospective memory measures. Incorporating naturalistic probes of prospective memory performance into a clinical assessment may allow insight into the experience of prospective memory challenges in older-age clients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)104-120
Number of pages17
JournalAging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • naturalistic assessment
  • neuropsychology assessment
  • older adults
  • Prospective memory
  • subjective memory

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